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"Ballet Mecanique"
by
George Antheil
Bmg/Rca Victor - #68066
Shep used this piece quite
often as an expression of 'horror' during one of the stories he would
tell.
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As Used By Shep -
(1-27-68 Show) |
Original Version -
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Visit the
George Antheil Website to hear Shep's tribute and follow the links to
read a great article
written by Paul Lehrman in the March 2000 issue of Mix Online.
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On Sunday, April 2, 2000 at 3 PM, Dennis Russel
Davies and the American
Composers Orchestra presented Paul Lehrman's realization of George Antheil's historic "Ballet Mecanique", in its original 1924 version,
at Carnegie Hall. This piece calls for 8-16 player pianos, a
7-person percussion ensemble, two pianists, a siren, 7 electric
bells, and 3 airplane propellers. It was never performable during
Antheil's lifetime -- through the use of computers and MIDI, it is
finally performable today. The publisher G. Schirmer commissioned Paul
to do all the programming and sampling to make this piece
performable, and the concert at Carnegie Hall is the result of that
effort.
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Buy It |
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The full
"Ballet Mecanique", in its original 1924 version, is available on CD.
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Follow up note from
Paul Lehrman
11/6/2003
Our first production run of the Ballet
mécanique CD sold out, but we have now done a second batch, and
they're flying out the door (well, power walking, anyway). Best of all,
you can now order CDs directly online from my Ballet mécanique Web site,
http://Antheil.org, using secure credit
card payment through those clever folks at Paypal.
Get the CD that the Boston Globe called, "a party record for
technophiles, but just about everyone else will have fun too!"...that
CD Review called , "A hell of a racket, exciting and brutal at the
same time!"..and which The Wire called "This awesome blast from
the past"!
It also includes groundbreaking pieces for percussion and electronics by
John Cage & Lou Harrison, Richard Grayson, Amadeo Roldán, and that "delerious"
(the Globe again) arrangement for 16 player pianos of the finale
from Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony.
Order the CD direct at
http://www.antheil.org/CDframe.html. The price is $16, plus $2 per
order for first-class mailing. (US and Canada only -- overseas orders
please inquire).
Or you can get it through
EMF media,
Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, or your favorite record store (if
it's still in business).
All best,
Paul
Paul D. Lehrman
The Ballet Mécanique Project
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